Because there are just too many pictures for one post...

I have to break this up a bit, because otherwise it would just be too much for a single post.

We took a day trip to an Emberá village. This was easily one of my favorite trips. We took dugout canoes down the Chagres River, then went on a short hike (I ended up hiking barefoot) to a waterfall where we went for a quick swim. After that it was back in the canoes and further down the river to the village.

This was our lunch at the village (along with a buffet of fresh tropical fruit); fried tilapia with patacones served in a banana leaf with hibiscus garnish. This was without a doubt the best fish I have ever tasted in my life, and was one of the two best tasting meals I think I've ever eaten.

We all went to a salsa club one night.

We spent a few days at the Decameron Beach Resort. I took a little Thomas Hardy to the beach with me this day. 

The last official weekend of the trip a few of us went to San Blas in the Kuna Yala comarca/reservation. We took a boat from our island hotel to Isla Perro on our first day there...

This is the view from the side of our deck.

The boys finally managed to get these hammocks up, although they still weren't the best arranged hammocks any of us had ever seen. Comfy enough though.

The morning of the 31st I went to the airport with everyone else and got my ticket changed so I could stay an extra week. Wednesday I went with a couple of friends who stayed on a few days to Panamá Viejo, the ruins of the old city.

This church was really neat.

Thursday we took the ferry out to Taboga to go to the beach. We spent most of the day there. It's a really beautiful island, but we all got really sunburned.

Eating vanilla ice cream pops.

One of my hosts, Victor, eating raspaos on the patio (they're like snow cones).

J.J. - cutest three year old in the world. He lives next door.

 Victor gave me this hat the night before I left. I have never worn baseball caps, but I love this one and I think it actually looks pretty cute. I've carried it with me since I got back, and will definitely be sporting it often this summer. I will wear mi gorra panameña proudly.

Un resúmen de mi viaje - Te quiero Panamá

It's been almost a week since I came home from my trip, and I finally have a minute to sit down and get you all up to date. I had an incredible time. In fact, I decided to extend my stay an extra week because I just wasn't ready to come home. To be honest, I wasn't really ready when I did finally come home on the sixth. Without further ado, I'll take you all on a quick (and very much abridged) tour of my month-long stint in Panama.

Some of the girls.

There were skinks crawling around the hotel. This one was in the room next door.

The view from my hotel room balcony.

The first full day we were in Panama they took us out that night on a Chiva Parrandera. The Chiva Parrandera is an interesting phenomenon to witness and even more interesting to participate it. It's a party bus, converted from an old city bus, with a DJ booth in the back. We drove around the city for hours having our own mobile dance party. We made a pit stop for a bit at an empty parking lot out on the causeway. We had a great time, but I have never been that sweaty in my entire life, nor do I think I ever will be again. 

The next day we went on a couple of hikes through the two big parks in the city. The first (and the one these pictures are from) was on Ancon Hill.

Poison dart frog. We saw several, and I actually almost stepped on one.

View of the city skyline from one of the trails. 

I got my picture taken with the recycling mimes at Albrook Mall...

We went to an incredibly beautiful zoo in El Valle de Antón. It was unlike any zoo I've ever been to before, set back in the mountains and not as purposefully organized as most zoos we're familiar with. It was really lovely and peaceful though.

Some of the group went zip-lining.

While we took a rainy hike through the rainforest.

La India Dormida

Our first official night out to the clubs...

Our next major outing took us to Portobelo and Isla Grande. We stopped at the ruins of an old fort on the way there.

Miniatures of the Cristo Negro statue at the church in Portobelo.

My first dip in the Caribbean.

We had a delicious lunch of mariscos at a restaurant called Bob Marley's, owned by a man named Pupy.

We saw baby crocodiles on our trip to Gamboa...

And went to the National Championship baseball game between Los Santos and Bocas del Toro (who hadn't won in 53 years or something crazy). I have never been to a baseball game like this in my life. There was a bad, dancers, fights and beer throwing.

We got to take a ride in the 360º simulator at the Panama Canal. It made me a little woozy, more so than any of the actual boats we road in.

We went to a second baseball game (the third of the Championship finals) and found an adorable baby. I really wanted to bring him home with me. He's a sweetheart.

This is not a great picture of me, but he's cute enough to make up for it.

One of the best trips we took was to the Aldeas Orphanage. We each "adopted" a child for the day and spent the whole day running around the grounds, jumping rope, playing with remote control cars and coloring. It was really wonderful spending time with such sweet, happy kids. It was a moving experience for a lot of us.

A brief announcement...

So unfortunately I have not been able to meet my goal of not falling so behind again. However, we've been so busy, and our internet in the hotel here in Panamá is SO SLOW that it takes forever to do anything with pictures. I'm going to have to keep it to a minimum until I get back to the States, but I promise I'm taking lots and lots of pictures. Hope everyone is having a wonderful May!

-Evie

1930s Draping Book

I found this draping book at my school library (among others) and have finally gotten around to scanning it as I can't find a copy for sale anywhere. Now that it's two weeks overdue and I'm heading back to classes in a week I figure I should take care of this little tidbit, making sure I have all the information safely saved on my computer. It's a textbook from the Women's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences in Scranton, PA and was published in 1936. The entire book is 54 pages, but I'll share some of the illustrations with you all.

I've got another book from 1935 that I also planned on getting scanned this afternoon and will share with you soon. I've also located my camera charger and will share pictures of the plaid outfit progress later.